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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29822058">How to Propose?</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/svtsail/pseuds/svtsail'>svtsail</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>SEVENTEEN (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 20:02:25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>9,515</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29822058</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/svtsail/pseuds/svtsail</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>They have been boyfriends for eight years already and isn’t it now high time that they could be something more? The problem is, Soonyoung doesn’t know how to propose to Jihoon. Tropical getaway? Check. Romantic candlelit dinner Check. Fireworks? Check. What can he do to give Jihoon the perfect proposal?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi/Lee Jihoon | Woozi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>92</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>How to Propose?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Soonyoung asked out Jihoon with a crooked writing and a (surprisingly tolerable, if Soonyoung says so himself) serenade (and knowing Soonyoung, with sensual dancing included) underneath the younger’s bedroom window. At the time, Jihoon made a lot of noise about “being too showy” and “making a spectacle out of our relationship” and “we’re on the front cover of seventeen tabloids, Soonie.” But both of them know that he still has pictures of Soonyoung’s slanted and almost unrecognizable </span>
  <em>
    <span>WILL YOU GO OUT WITH ME, LEE JIHOON</span>
  </em>
  <span> saved on his phone.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For their first anniversary, Soonyoung bought a fondue machine and eight different kinds of chocolate, and Jihoon made a point to use a raw onion with gourmet 82% cacao chocolate, because he lived to be contrary. Soonyoung wasn’t too bothered, though, and by the end of the night, he found a better use for the chocolate, anyway. Jihoon smelled like white chocolate for a few days after that.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For their second anniversary, Soonyoung rented an island, and they successfully got sand in a lot of uncomfortable places over the course of a week, interspersed with periods of time during which Jihoon looking wistfully off into the distance, probably thinking about all the songs that he have been pending to do, while Soonyoung tried (and failed) to teach himself to surf. The tabloids ran articles about their “steamy honeymoon!?” for weeks.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After that, the anniversaried got a little blurry. Soonyoung thinks he once got Jihoon a first-edition copy of Bruno Mars’ first signed album that Jihoon had got it framed and won’t stop looking at it for an entire two days, and then there was another time that he got a park named after Jihoon (Woozi Park is just across the elementary school that they went together, and Soonyoung likes to visit it when he has time, mostly so he can smile stupidly at the DEDICATED TO LEE JIHOON WITH LOVE plaque at the entrance). Soonyoung has probably done something with fireworks at least twice.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And that’s just anniversaries, without all the birthdays, Christmases, New Years, Valentine’s Days, and other miscellaneous holidays over the past eight years factored in, not to mention all the major events they’ve celebrated together (Soonyoung being named CEO of the Year despite being an idol at the same time, Jihoon getting promoted to being the main producer of their company, etc.). At this point, Soonyoung has used every trick in the book and then invented more when he ran out. Soonyoung has scoured the bowels of the internet for inspiration. Soonyoung has gone through every item in his mental list of Ways to Make a Grand, Sweeping Gesture That Will End Up on the Cover of Every Tabloid for the Next Ten Weeks.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Soonyoung realizes, with dawning horror, that he has no idea how he’s going to propose to Jihoon.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s been an impulse that flares occasionally at the back of Soonyoung’s mind, growing a little more insistent every time Jihoon kisses Soonyoung absently on the corner of the mouth on his way out the door or makes snarky comments about Soonyoung’s choice of reading materials (apparently he doesn’t approve of all those Soonyoung x Jihoon stories that the older has been reading) or smiles, fond and sleepy and trusting, when he finds Soonyoung turning on the coffeemaker in the morning or laughs at Soonyoung’s jokes or -- or exists, really. The longer Soonnyoung thinks about it, the better an idea it seems. After all, it’s not as if marriage would really change their relationship in any way other than the acquisition of matching rings and exchanged last names (he really just can’t wait to make the other have his surname. Kwon Jihoon, how pretty does it sound?), but it’s the thought that counts, really, the thought that they could belong to each other in a public way, in an undeniable, absolute way beyond a shadow of doubt.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Also his Jeonghan-hyung keeps leaving unsubtle wedding catalogues in their mailbox with threats not to stop until he proposes, and Soonyoung is starting to see princess-cut diamonds and lace-detailed bodices in his nightmares, so there’s that, too.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But then he runs into a problem. Because </span>
  <em>
    <span>how</span>
  </em>
  <span> is he going to </span>
  <em>
    <span>propose</span>
  </em>
  <span> to Jihoon? There’s no way he can top anything that he’s done in the past, and this is probably the most important thing he’ll ever do in his life. And he </span>
  <em>
    <span>has </span>
  </em>
  <span>to do some kind of grand, sweeping gesture, because --</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Seungcheol’s proposal was so beautiful,” Jeonghan sighs for, like, the </span>
  <em>
    <span>eight millionth time</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He waves his left hand in a pseudo-casual way that ensures the twelve-carat diamond on his ring finger refracts light directly onto Soonyoung’s eyes. “Did I mention he had swans?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Only </span>
  <em>
    <span>fifteen times</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Soonyoung says sulkily, pinching the bridge of his nose. Jeonghan laughs as if he’s joking (he’s really not) before his eyes go glazed in a way that makes Soonyoung shudder because he knows he’s thinking about Seungcheol and his stupid swan-filled, philharmonic-orchestra-accompanied, mid-May gazebo proposal.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jeonghan emerges from his mental reliving of the proposal to give Soonyoung a patronizing smile. “You can’t complain about Seungcheol’s proposal when you haven’t even thought about how </span>
  <em>
    <span>you’re</span>
  </em>
  <span> going to propose to Jihoon,” he informs him smugly, taking a sip of his pretentiously unsweetened iced tea and pursing his lips. “Once you stop screwing around and actually make an effort to settle down with Jihoon, </span>
  <em>
    <span>then</span>
  </em>
  <span> we’ll talk.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Actually,” Soonyoung begins, very carefully, and that’s enough for Jeonghan to go into a Feral Cat with a Catnip mode. There’s an unholy light in his eyes as he practically flings himself across the table at him. Soonyoung surreptitiously scoots his chair backwards.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Explain,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” he demands, almost overturning his cup of tea with his elbow as he claws at him. His eyes are narrowed with suspicion. “Are you telling me that I’ll finally be able to cancel my subscription to </span>
  <em>
    <span>Purple Roses Wedding Co.</span>
  </em>
  <span>?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t even like </span>
  <em>
    <span>Purple Roses Wedding Co.,”</span>
  </em>
  <span> says Soonyoung evasively. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Wedding Bells</span>
  </em>
  <span> has better flower arrangements.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Soonyoung</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Jeonghan hisses, “</span>
  <em>
    <span>are you going to propose?”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Soonyoung wipes at his forehead. “To whom?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, I don’t know, maybe to the guy you’ve been dating for the past eight years,” Jeonghan snaps. His eyes narrowed suspiciously at him. “Are you serious? Are you </span>
  <em>
    <span>finally </span>
  </em>
  <span>going to propose to Jihoon?” He goes terrifyingly misty-eyed. “Will Jihoonie finally be my brother-in-law?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We’re not related,” Soonyoung protests, horrified. “Because that would make Seungcheol-hyung my future brother-in-law. And the day that he becomes my brother-in-law is the day that I cliff dive into a pond full of piranhas.” (Well who wouldn’t when Seungcheol was his Jihoonie’s first love. Oh the days he wanted to forget.)</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, then, you’ve only got a month left to live,” Jeonghan shrugs before his eyes go soft and serious. “But really, Soonyoung. You’re going to propose?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I want to,” Soonyoung mumbles, looking away. “But, like… I don’t know how.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jeonghan stares at him for a long moment before he throws himself back into his chair, sighing. “Of all the reason why you </span>
  <em>
    <span>wouldn’t</span>
  </em>
  <span> propose to the person we’re all pretty sure either has to be your soulmate or certainly insane, considering that he actively puts up with you in a romantic context”-- Soonyoung makes a wounded noisem but Jeonghan goes on without pausing --”not knowing ‘how to propose’ is, like, the worst excuse.” He gives him a look that would melt steel. “The </span>
  <em>
    <span>worst excuse</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, it’s just-- I have to make it special, right?” Soonyoung insists, running  a hand through his hair. “I always do big gestures for Jihoon. Because he deserves them. But now -- I don’t have any </span>
  <em>
    <span>left</span>
  </em>
  <span>. I’ve literally done everything I could think of already.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>One of Jeonghan’s eyebrows crawls upwards. “I find that hard to believe.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Soonyoung sighs. “Jeonghan-hyung, for our last anniversary, I bought him a two-story mansion.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You --” Jeonghan giggles. “Why would you do that? He already has a mansion. You </span>
  <em>
    <span>live</span>
  </em>
  <span> in that mansion. It’s a really nice mansion.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, well, the mansion I bought him is our summer house in Busan. We visit in July to play football, go hiking, and swim. The weather’s great. That’s not the point.” Soonyoung waves him off. “The point is that I’ve done </span>
  <em>
    <span>everything</span>
  </em>
  <span> for Jihoon at least once.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jeonghan eyes the other with suspicion. “Fireworks? Candlelit dinner? Live band?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Twice for fireworks, ten times for candlelit dinners, and once for the live band.” Soonyoung ribs his face, feeling a groan building up in his chest. He catches Jeonghan’s eye -- he’s about to open his mouth -- and adds, “We’ve gone on tropical getaways four times, visited Europe twice, and there’s at least one ship out there that has Jihoon’s name on it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Flash mob?” Jeonghan tries weakly. Soonyoung just gives him a look.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Twice.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay,” Jeonghan admits after a minute of contemplative silence. “Yeah, you’re pretty much screwed.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When Soonyoung gets home half an hour later, plodding into the kitchen as he pulls off his jacket, he finds Jihoon stirring a pot of something, staring contemplatively in its depths. Jihoon has definitely gotten better at cooking -- he’s graduated from “burns everything, including water and air” to “can produce mostly palatable results.” He’s currently wearing a frilly pink apron (origins unknown, though Soonyoung suspects that it’s from Seokmin) over one of Soonyoung’s shirts, and his hair is flat on one side in a way that means he fell asleep on his computer table. Again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What’s cooking, good looking?” Soonyoung drawls, leaning against the doorframe to properly enjoy the resigned stare Jihoon sends him before he reaches down to click off the burner.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re not getting any of this curry,” he informs Soonyoung, even as he gets out two place settings from the overhead cabinet. The settings were a housewarming gift from Wonwoo, Jihoon’s best friend, and all of the plates have little dancing cats painted on them. Jihoon secretly loves them, even if he’ll never admit it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I guess I’ll have to survive on just your sweet, sweet love,” Soonyoung sighs, dramatic, and Jihoon winds up like a baseball pitcher before he hurls a rice paddle at Soonyoung’s head. If Soonyoung didn’t have the reflexes he does, he probably would’ve lost an ear. As it is, his palm stings from the impact. He gives Jihoon a wounded look.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“There’s rice in the rice cooker,” announces Jihoon, completely ignoring him as he digs around for a ladle. “Mind getting us some?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>With a long-suffering sigh, Soonyoung edges around him (he takes the chance to grope subtly at Jihoon’s waist; Jihoon smacks him on the head with the ladle without even blinking) to get to the rice cooker. “One day you’re going to take out my eye,” he remarks as he scoops rice onto a plate, “and then you’ll be sorry.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That would be a shame,” Jihoon says dryly, taking the plate from him and adding curry over the rice. “I do so love your eyes.” He takes the second plate from Soonyoung, drizzles curry on it, kisses Soonyoung on the cheek, and departs for the dining room making Soonyoung melt a little.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>got</span>
  </em>
  <span> to find a way to propose.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When Jeonghan and Seungcheol first announced that they were getting married, Soonyoung was mainly smugly satisfied at the thought that he would get to be his maid of honor (man of honor?). He deserves it, after putting up with him and his pining for so many years. And -- bonus -- Jihoon is Seungcheol’s best man. It’s basically the perfect setup.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He didn’t take into account that Jeonghan would force him to go to all his wedding-related events, though.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Jeonghan-hyung,” he whines, ignoring the laserlike glare one of the salesclerks shoots at him, “why do we have to be here for your </span>
  <em>
    <span>third fitting</span>
  </em>
  <span>?” He’s starting to get uncomfortably familiar with this particular suit atelier. He swears that every time he walks in, the salespeople play rock-paper-scissors to see who has to deal with him this time.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Because you’re in my party,” Jeonghan reminds him, a slightly vindictive look in his eyes as he allows a saleswoman to pin the suit tighter around his stomach to accentuate some curves. Soonyoung has a theory that he’s been deliberately losing weight just so he has to come to more fittings.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Younghee, one of bridesmaids-- Soonyoung thinks that she and Jeonghan go to the same yoga class -- laughs and pats him in the shoulder. She has bleached blonde hair and a septum piercing that Soonyoung privately and ashamedly thinks makes her look like a bull. “Regretting your decision to be his ‘man of honor’ yet, Soonyoung-ssi?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nope,” Soonyoung insists, and then deflates when one of the saleswoman trills, “Adjusting the suit will take another twenty minutes!” He sighs. “Maybe. Shut up.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Younghee laughs uproariously. She sets her hand in the crook of Soonyoung’s elbow, leaning in with a grin. She has lipstick on her front teeth. Soonyoung looks away politely, pretending not to notice. “So how’s everything with that boyfriend of yours?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Really good,” Soonyoung says sadly. Just this morning, he woke up to find Jihoon half-lying in a chair at the kitchen table with their cats sitting on him, feeding them some snacks and yawning as they walked all over his shoulders.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For a second, Younghee’s smile wavers, but then it’s back in full force. “If everything’s good, then why do you sound so depressed?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m trying to figure out a way to propose to him,” Soonyoung tells her, rubbing the back of his neck. “I don’t know how to, though. I have to do some kind of grand gesture.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh.” Younghee gets an uncomfortable look on her face. When her grin returns, it’s a little forced. Soonyoung lifts an eyebrow. “What about -- uh, like, fireworks, or something?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Done that,” says Soonyoung, a little sulkily. He exhales, watching his Jeonghan-hyung asks a salesclerk to tighten the suit around his stomach more for the fourth time. “We’ve been together so long that I’ve done everything at least once. Maybe twice.” He frowns. “Possibly three times.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Isn’t that a sign that maybe things are getting boring?” Younghee asks -- purrs(?). Her voice goes oddly low as she looks up at him through her eyelashes. Soonyoung notices in a distantly embarrassed sort of way, that the wings of her eyeliner are kind of uneven. “Maybe your relationship is getting too, you know… monotonous.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Soonyoung stares at her as if she’s abruptly switched to another language. He opens his mouth, about to ask that she’s trying to imply (he’s genuinely concerned, because if she’s trying to imply that </span>
  <em>
    <span>Jihoon </span>
  </em>
  <span>is </span>
  <em>
    <span>boring</span>
  </em>
  <span>, she may actually need some medical help) when the bell over the door jingles and he glances reflexively over his shoulder to see Jihoon hovering awkwardly in the doorway, holding a takeout cup and looking shifty. Soonyoung can’t stop the grin that overtakes his face.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Jihoonie!” he calls, and Jihoon startles before his gaze slides towards them. Soonyoung waves -- or, well he tries to, because he kind of forgot that Younghee was holding onto his arm and he accidentally smacks her in the face when he goes to wave. He winces. “Shit, sorry, Younghee, are you okay?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m fine,” Younghee gets out, clutching her nose. “I’m just gonna --” She makes an abortive motion towards the bathroom and flees. Soonyoung watches her go, wincing. He might have to buy her a coffee or something.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey,” Jihoon says when he’s within hearing distance. He hands Soonyoung the cup, and Soonyoung takes an enthusiastic sip. It’s royal milk tea, which is maybe his fourth most favorite thing in the known world, right after Jihoon, dancing, and his company. But when Soonyoung moves to kiss Jihoon, he finds that Jihoon is staring after Younghee with a furrowed brow.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Uh, is she okay?” he asks when Soonyoung makes a frustrated sound.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, she’s fine. I didn’t hit her that hard, pay attention to me,” Soonyoung complains, tugging at Jihoon’s sleeve, and Jihoon gets a resigned, indulgent look on his face as he leans in to give Soonyoung a kiss on the corner of the mouth. Soonyoung hums complacently, resisting the urge to rub his face all over Jihoon. He’s pretty sure that tight-lipped salesclerk skulking behind a veil display would actually stab him if he did that. He settles for wrapping an arm around Jihoon’s waist.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What brought this on?” he asks, gesturing at the cup making Jihoon flush a little.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I hear that you were back at this atelier because Jeonghan-hyung needed another fitting, and I was in the area,” he lies, very transparently. There’s no reason Jihoon would be all the way out here in Namyangju, not unless it's to meet a client, and if there </span>
  <em>
    <span>was some official business he needed to attend to</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he wouldn’t leave his client to bring Soonyoung tea.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Aw, babe, you’re so sweet,” Soonyoung grins. He can’t help but fit his mouth to the curve of Jihoon’s neck, just to feel Jihoon’s pulse jump even as he hisses, scandalized, “Soonyoung, we’re in public!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Unsurprisingly, they got kicked out of the shop with orders not to come back. Jeonghan shouts at him over the phone for a while before he gets bored and hangs up. Jihoon makes several annoyed sounds about his being “inappropriately affectionate” in public and needing to “restrain himself more, honestly, stop, it’s embarrassing when things like this happen.” Soonyoung couldn’t care less, mainly because Jihoon still lets him hold his hand on the way home. As they wait for a light to change at an intersection, Soonyoung glances down at Jihoon’s hand, and for a split-second, he imagines a ring -- his ring -- on Jihoon’s fourth finger. The thought is equal parts exhilarating and sobering.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Soonyoung glares down at the opened note on his phone, rubbing his temple. He types out a few ideas (skydiving? cake? a two-hour stage play about their love story?), but he’s also crossed them all out, because none of them are </span>
  <em>
    <span>right</span>
  </em>
  <span>. None of them are good enough. None of them are The Exact Way he wants to propose.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Not for the first time in the last ten minutes, he heaves a sigh and leans back on the chair. If he focuses enough he can hear the sounds of cicadas outside the window. According to the clock hanging above the kitchen table, it’s half past one in the morning. Soonyoung’s eyes feel like overworked clay, sticky and slow as he blinks.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>With a sigh, Soonyoung looks back down at the screen of his phone, which has gone dark in the interim, and thumbs the lockscreen open. He’s halfway to googling “romantic proposal ideas?” when there’s the sound of shuffling footsteps in the hall.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Soonie? What are you doing?” Soonyoung turns to see Jihoon propped up in the doorway, looking half-awake. He’s dragged the comforter off their bed -- it’s unclear if he did it on purpose -- and he’s got it twisted unevenly around his shoulders, like the world’s longest cape. His eyes are barely open; Soonyoung can barely make out the irises  behind the dark netting of his eyelashes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nothing,” Soonyoung says hastily, dropping his phone back into his pocket and getting to his feet. He crosses the room in three strides and ducks to kiss Jihoon lightly on the mouth. “It’s nothing, darling.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jihoon gets a suspicious look on his face, a look that usually precedes if he asks if Soonyoung has been eating his favorite Shooting Star ice cream from Baskin Robbins once again, and Soonyoung attempts to head him off by picking him up and throwing him over his shoulder. Jihoon, predictably, begins to squawk with indignation, abruptly wide awake as he manages to knee Soonyoung in the lower stomach, three inches away from a place Soonyoung would very much like to keep un-kneed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Careful with the goods Hoonie,” he wheezes as he hits the light switch and starts to fumble his way back to their bedroom. He nearly trips on a trailing corner of the comforter when Jihoon pinches the back of his neck. “Jihoon!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Your own fault,” Jihoon announces, unrepentant, and Soonyoung retaliates by turning his face into Jihoon’s rib cage and biting him. Jihoon squeaks, squirming, before he sucks sharply at the side of Soonyoung’s neck. Soonyoung shudders, nearly dropping him, and, well, things devolve from there. At least they have a blanket to put down first.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The first time Soonyoung met Wonwoo, Wonwoo took one look at him before he turned to Jihoon and said, loudly, “Jihoon, you could do way better.” Needless to say, Soonyoung harbors a healthy amount of dislike for him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>(Even though Soonyoung’s come to realize that Wonwoo wasn’t wrong -- Jihoon </span>
  <em>
    <span>can</span>
  </em>
  <span> do much better than Soonyoung; there’s at least one supermodel/actress/singer/idol who’s still holding out hope that Jihoon will leave Soonyoung for them -- but for whatever reason, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Jihoon</span>
  </em>
  <span> seems to be under the impression that he’s gotten the better deal.)</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Right now, Soonyoung’s sprawled across the couch, tie part way done and eyes half-lidded, as Jihoon flutters around in search of his jacket (actually Soonyoung’s) and Wonwoo sits in the kitchen, swinging his feet idly. Soonyoung’s not entirely clear on why Wonwoo is here -- he thinks it has something to do with the preparation for Seungcheol’s wedding and they are working together to give him the best bachelor party ever -- but he doesn’t like it. Mainly because it means Soonyoung has to go out to dinner with Jihoon and Wonwoo and suffer through another three hours of wedding-related conversation, otherwise Jihoon will give him the silent treatment and leave passive-aggressive post-it notes all around the house for at least a week.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How was your latest concert?” Wonwoo asks when he apparently decides that the silence has reached its maximum awkwardness.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It was fine,” Soonyoung says blandly, staring up at the ceiling. He can practically feel Wonwoo’s irritation gathering steam in the corner. When Wonwoo speaks next, his voice is manufactured and sweet.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So, I hear you’ve got a new girl,” he chirps.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Soonyoung actually sits up to properly convince his skepticism via judgily raised eyebrows. “From where? A tabloid?” The tabloids do have a weird obsession with Soonyoung and JIhoon, actually. He can’t tell if they want them to stay together until the end of time or to have a spectacularly public break up and appear on separate talk shows to cry dramatically and throw things.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wonwoo rolls his eyes. “I heard from Jihoon, you dumb stupid idiot.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Soonyoung takes a second to mouth </span>
  <em>
    <span>dumb stupid idiot</span>
  </em>
  <span> in condescending disbelief before he gives Wonwoo an unimpressed look. “As if. You know I’d never cheat on my Jihoonie.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Does </span>
  <em>
    <span>he</span>
  </em>
  <span> know that?” Wonwoo mutters. Soonyoung squints at him, but Wonwoo just looks pointedly at the opposite wall.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>With a sigh, Soonyoung lets himself collapse back on the couch. Somewhere upstairs, Jihoon drops something that makes a loud clunking noise and swears loudly, Soonyoung fervently hopes he hasn’t knocked over the lamp on their nightstand yet again. Superglue can only do so much.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It occurs to Soonyoung, after a moment, that this is the perfect opportunity to ask Wonwoo for ideas. Not that he thinks Wonwoo can actually be romantic -- he was the one that proposed to Mingyu via </span>
  <em>
    <span>text</span>
  </em>
  <span>, like the embarrassingly emotionally stunted person he is -- but because he’s Jihoon’s best friend and therefore should know Jihoon as well as he does.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So, Wonwoo,” Soonyoung begins, carefully, “do you have any ideas about how, theoretically, one might…surprise someone? Make a big romantic gesture?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Jihoon doesn’t care about your big gestures,” Wonwoo informs him, bashing a heel against the counter. Soonyoung glares at him. “He always calls me to complain about how you always go overboard. That time you bought him a yacht, he called me and screamed into the phone for two minutes straight. Without pausing to breathe.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“This is-- different,” Soonyoung grumbles. He’s a little scared that Wonwoo’s not joking. “Whatever I end up doing has to be </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> impressive.” When Wonwoo remains unmoved, Soonyoung rolls his eyes. “It’s not about what you think it is. I have to make an -- an </span>
  <em>
    <span>impression</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wonwoo’s eyebrows jerk upwards, and he starts to get a pinched expression on his face (after some thought, Soonyoung recognizes it as his </span>
  <em>
    <span>someone is threatening Mingyu or Jihoon and therefore must die </span>
  </em>
  <span>face, and wonders why he’s wearing it), but before he can say anything, Jihoon pops his head in. He’s wearing the cashmere cardigan that they both got each other two Christmases ago (in addition to a trip to Japan) and he looks a little flustered. Soonyoung can see that he most likely did knock over the lamp again, judging from the guilty way he brushes porcelain dust off his sleeves.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ready to go?” he asks, smiling a little sheepishly, and Soonyoung’s on his feet in two seconds flat. He’s grinning dopily and he knows Wonwoo is eyeing him with something like annoyance, but he can’t help it. </span>
  <em>
    <span>God</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he loves this man.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, let’s go,” Soonyoung says, wrapping an arm around Jihoon’s waist and herding him towards the door. He ignores Wonwoo’s squawk of indignation and the way Jihoon, mock-resigned, nudges him with his elbow and sighs, “We can’t just leave Wonwoo in our house alone, you know.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>At some point, Soonyoung comes to the revelation that no matter how he ends up proposing, he’s going to need an engagement ring of some kind. And it’s going to have to be the Best Ring Ever, because, with any luck, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Jihoon</span>
  </em>
  <span> is going to wear it. It’s going to be Soonyoung’s declaration to the world that Jihoon is taken, that he’s off the market, sorry not sorry to the millions of people in the world who want him. It’s going to be </span>
  <em>
    <span>Soonyoung’s ring </span>
  </em>
  <span>on </span>
  <em>
    <span>Jihoon’s finger.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Needless to say, Soonyoung panics, which is his excuse for why he drags Seungcheol out to a jewelry store on a Friday night.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Seungcheol, predictably, is grumpy about it. He’s wearing a surly look on his face as he stomps past Soonyoung into the store. “Can’t believe you dragged me out of the house for something as asinine as this,” he sniffs, trying (in vain) to close the door or Soonyoung’s foot. “I could’ve been at home, with my fiance, enjoying the evening --”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“First of all, getting a ring for Jihon is </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>asinine, screw you very much,” Soonyoung says, rolling his eyes. “Second of all, I know for a fact that Jeonghan-hyung is on one of his so called ‘teatime’ with Jisoo-hyung just to talk about each other’s dumb but lovable fiances, so you should be </span>
  <em>
    <span>thankful</span>
  </em>
  <span> that I gave you a valid reason to get out of the house.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hmph,” is all Seungcheol says as he stalks towards the ring display, which Soonyoung interprets as, “Yes, Soonyoung, you are entirely right, but my enormous ego and the stick up my ass refuse to let me acknowledge that.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The ring selection is literally dazzling, ruler-straight lines of sparkling diamonds staring up out of the glass in soldierly formations. Soonyoung shields his eyes with one hand, squinting down at them. A lot of them are the stereotypical engagement ring, with bulky jewels and delicate white-gold platinum bands. Soonyoung wrinkles his nose. He can’t imagine Jihoon wearing any of these.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t think Jihoon would like any of these,” Seungcheol remarks, the epitome of unhelpfulness. Soonyoung gives him a look.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thanks.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A bright-eyed salesgirl sidles up to them, smiling widely. “Can I help you, gentlemen?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That would be great,” says Soonyoung with relief. He leans in conspiringly. “I’m actually looking for an engagement ring for my boyfriend of eight years.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh!” The girl’s gaze slides to Seungcheol, one of her eyebrows lifting as her smile turns suggestive, and Seungcheol makes a sound like he’s choking.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m not his boyfriend,” he grinds out, looking as if he’s swallowed a cactus. “I have a fiance waiting for me at home. A lovely, beautiful fiance who is not this -- this--” He makes a sputtering noise and buries his face in his hands.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m feeling a little unappreciated, </span>
  <em>
    <span>sweetheart</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Soonyoung announces. Seungcheol gives him a murderous look that blatantly advertises just how badly he wants to kneecap Soonyoung before he stomps towards the necklace section and attempts to pretend that he’s not associated with the other. Soonyoung wonders what possessed him to bring Seungcheol along, anyway.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The salesgirl titters, hands over her mouth, before she turns all business, motioning at the rings. “This is our selection of engagement rings. May I interest you in any of these?” Soonyoung must make some kind of face, because she frowns and glances down at the display case. “Is there something wrong with these?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, no, it’s just… He’s not into flashy displays. He probably wouldn’t wear anything too, uh… ostentatious,” Soonyoungn tells her, eyeing a ring set with a diamond bigger than his pinky.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I see.” The girl’s expression turns contemplative. “In that case, we have a section of rings that feature smaller stones, if that would be preferable.” Her gaze twitches towards a door marked </span>
  <em>
    <span>EMPLOYEES ONLY. </span>
  </em>
  <span>“Would you like me to bring it out for you?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That would be great,” Soonyoung agrees and watches as she takes off for the backroom.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Seungcheol finally resigns and drifts back over to him. “Your phone’s ringing,” he informs Soonyoung when Soonyoung glares wordlessly at him, and Soonyoung jumps when he realizes Seungcheol’s right.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Reaching into his pocket, Soonyoung pulls out his phone to find that Jihoon is calling him. The picture he set as Jihoon’s contact photo is one he took when they were sixteen and still dancing around each other, and it's a candid shot— Jihoon is angled partially away from him, and he’s got his laptop in his lap and a relaxed expression on his face. It’s still one of Sooyoung’s favorite pictures of him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Grinning (and ignoring Seungcheol’s judgy, eyebrow stare), Soonyoung picks up the phone. “Babydoll!” he croons in greeting making Seungcheol gag audibly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I will pay you not to call me that ever again,” Jihoon says, sounding pained.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Soonyoung can’t help but leer. “What’ll you pay me in?” Seungcheol begins to cough spectacularly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jihoon huffs out a groan that shudders down the line. “Not sexual favors, that’s for sure.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re not fun at all, sugarplum,” Soonyoung sighs before he leans against the counter, cupping his hands protectively around his phone. “Did you need anything?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What, I can’t call you just to hear your voice?” Jihoon asks wryly, but there’s a hint of truth in the way his voice goes self-conscious around the last few syllables. Soonyoung can’t help but smile fondly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I always knew you were sweet on me,” he grins, and Jihoon just makes a derisive noise that means he doesn’t want to acknowledge that Soonyoung’s right. “How’s everything at home?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Quiet. A little boring without you,” Jihoon tells him in an uncharacteristic moment of candidness. “I made some kimchi fried rice. Hope you’re hungry. Hey, where are you, by the way? I know you don’t have any practice or meetings tonight.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Uh --” Soonyoung chokes a little, breaking into a theatrical coughing fit in order to buy time. “I --” He clears his throat. He can’t very well say he’s in a jewelry store looking for an engagement ring for Jihoon, can he? “I’m… out.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, I surmised as much from your absence,” says Jihoon, snarky. There’s a creeping, slightly suspicious note to his voice. “Soonie, you know, lately you’ve been --”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Soonyoung would love to know what he’s been like lately, but it’s at that moment that the salesgirl reappears from the bowels of the storage, brandishing a few trays of rings and calling, “Hey, I found the rings,” and Soonyoung freaks out, stammers, “HeyIgottagoI’llbehomesoonsorrybabe,” hangs up on Jihoon’s confused “Wait,what?” and fumbles his phone into his pocket.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There’s an awkward silence. The salesgirl looks incredibly unimpressed, as does Seungcheol.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span> “That was the least subtle thing I’ve ever seen you do,” Seungcheol remarks. “And I was there that time when you sailed a boat with Jihoon’s name in it across Han River.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Shut up.” Soonyoung flushes before he turns his attention to the salesclerk. “Show me the rings.” She lifts her eyebrow at him, but she does push the velvet-lined trays towards him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In the end, Soonyoung picks a ring with a twisted white-gold band set with a delicate dewdrop of a diamond. Seungcheol doesn’t make any comments about it, which Soonyoung takes as implicit approval, and Soonyoung has a thirty-second fantasy of Jihoon wearing it to work, to Soonyoung’s concerts and fanmeets, everywhere. Basically, it’s the Perfect Ring.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The ring is heavy in Soonyoung’s pocket when he finally gets home, taking off his shoes before he goes in search of Jihoon. Jihoon is sitting at the kitchen table, scrawling off some lyrics with a blackpoint ballpoint pen on his ever trusted lyrics notebook, and he looks up when Soonyoung comes in. His eyes instantly narrow.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hi, sweet pea,” Soonyoung tries. He crosses the room to kiss Jihoon softly on the mouth. Jihoon tastes like toothpaste and palpable irritation that melts away like snow in April when Soonyoung runs a hand through the soft unruliness of his just-washed hair.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t think you’re off the hook,” grumbles Jihoon. “You still owe me an explanation.” There’s something a little fragile about the way he looks imploringly at Soonyoung, and Soonyoung smiles and presses a kiss to his hairline.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’ll get one eventually,” he promises. Jihoon harrumphs and pointedly goes back to writing the lyrics for his new song.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Soonyoung, as the reigning Artist of the Year for two years in a row (aside from his title as the CEO of the Year too), never fails to sell out a concert or a fanmeet. Jihoon, as Soonyoung’s reigning ladylove -- </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>(“Don’t call me that, what is this, some kind of 1900s romance novel?” Jihoon said, horrified, the last time Soonyoung called him that, but Soonyoung knows he doesn’t really mind.)</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>-- never fails to show up for any of his shows, unless there’s a client he needs to meet up with or something urgent comes up at work. The ticket office knows not to sell the center seat of the front row, no matter how much someone offers to pay, and the stage crew knows Jihoon as well as they know Soonyoung. Soonyoung once found Jihoon fanboying over Bruno Mars with one of the lighting crew (it was adorable, and Soonyoung spent most of the week teasing both of them). And Jihoon knows at least half of the sequence of the songs that Soonyoung will perform on a specific show, so he’s always helpful with the setup. Soonyoung’s especially excited about this week’s fanmeet in particular: Jihoo helped him come up with some of the choreography that involved some floor humping and a new way to maneuver his hands in a </span>
  <em>
    <span>very</span>
  </em>
  <span> sensual way so this performance is going to be </span>
  <em>
    <span>incredible</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Thirty minutes before the show is scheduled to start, Soonyoung’s fresh out of hair and makeup, foundation tacky on his cheeks and hair pomaded into a veritable helmet around his skull, and he ends up wandering around the theater until he spots Jihoon milling around the front row talking to someone and wearing his business face. He’s put on some casual clothes for the event yet he still made it look so </span>
  <em>
    <span>sexy</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Soonyoung sidles up and manages to fit Jihoon into the crook of his elbow before the smaller notices. When Jihoon starts, turning to give him a Do We Have to Go Over My Code of Public Displays of Affection look, he drawls, “Hey there, honeybun,” and watches delightedly as Jihoon flushes, color all across his cheekbones.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Soonyoung,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Jihoon hisses. Soonyoung notes that he doesn’t bother trying to pull away, even as he motions at the person he’s talking to.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Jihoonie,” Soonyoung mimics, grinning, and Jihoon sighs and makes a blustery noise and doesn’t try to break free of his hold. Soonyoung is very aware of how stupid his face must look right now, as he looks at Jihoon and </span>
  <em>
    <span>marvels</span>
  </em>
  <span>, but he’s finding it difficult to care.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Someone clears their throats and Soonyoung looks over to find that Younghee, Jeonghan’s friend, is standing there, watching them with an artificial smile plastered on her face. She’s done her hair up in elaborate curls that remind Soonyoung of braided pastries, and she’s wearing a dress in a pale powder blue that Soonyoung privately thinks would suit on his Jihoonie much better. Still, she looks -- cute, maybe, for a person who isn’t Jihoon.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hi, Soonyoung-ssi!” she chirrups when Soonyoung levels a slightly inquisitive look at her. “I came to see your show!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is that so?” Soonyoung smiles politely. “Well, I hope you enjoy it, since you came all the way out here.” He glances around. “Where’s your seat, Younghee-ssi?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, uh, Jeonghan said that I could take the one he usually uses?” Younghee explains, batter her eyelashes hopefully, and Soonyoung frowns. His Jeonghan-hyung hadn’t told him that he’d be coming to this event in particular, so he’s pretty sure the management sold his seat already. Jeonghan-hyung doesn’t come to every show -- only about when he’s bored and wants to come which is very rare so unless he or Soonyoung calls the management in advance, his seat is generally taken by someone else.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That may be a problem. I don’t know if the management reserved a seat for him, and the rest of the seats are definitely sold out by now,” Soonyoung admits after a long pause. Younghee’s face falls, and her mouth pulls tight at the corners. Soonyoung has the lurking suspicion that she may start crying, which is one of the most terrifying prospects he can imagine (partly because he thinks that introducing any hint of moisture to the makeup she’s wearing will not end well for anyone). He casts a panicked look at Jihoon, who’s got an eyebrow raised and an alarmingly aloof tilt to his mouth.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You can take </span>
  <em>
    <span>my</span>
  </em>
  <span> seat,” Jihoon announces calmly. When Soonyoung stares at him, equal parts horrified and confused, he shrugs, offering Younghee a smile that goes nowhere near his eyes. “I’ve seen all of Soonyoung’s performance, anyway.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh really? Thank you, Jihoon-ssi!” Younghee clutches at her heart, grinning. Something feels a little off about the way she looks at Jihoon, though -- if Soonyoung didn’t know better, he’d think she was challenging him. “You’re so…” Her smile sharpens, “Kind.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course,” Jihoon dips his head before he glances at Soonyoung. “I’ll see you at home, Soonyoung.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But -- but --” Soonyoung gapes. “What about the dance we worked on together?” Jihoon was the one who’d suggested the song he used since they composed it together. Jihoon helped him come up with the sequence of moves and Jihoon wasn’t going to stick around to </span>
  <em>
    <span>see it?</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There’s something wrong with the way Jihoon laughs, the way he won’t meet Soonyoung’s eyes. “You’ll be fine. You can show it to me at home if you really want, all right?” He pats Soonyoung’s forearm before he leans out of Soonyoung’s grasp. “I think Younghee-ssi deserves to see you perform at least once.” For a second, he looks as if he wants to kiss Soonyoung, a thought that makes Soonyoung a little breathless because Jihoon </span>
  <em>
    <span>never</span>
  </em>
  <span> initiates in public, but in the end, Jihoon just claps him around the shoulder before he turns and strides out of the theater. There’s an angled fold along the back panel of his shirt, and his hair curling at the nape.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Jihoonie?” Soonyoung calls after him, hopelessly bemused, but then Younghee says tentatively, “Soonyoung-ssim I think the audience are coming in soo?” and Soonyoung gives up. He’ll have to interrogate Jihoon at home.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In the end, the show turns out to be one of his worst (almost worse than the time he dislocated his shoulder and had to pause the fanmeet). Soonyoung keeps looking into the front row, expecting to see Jihoon feigning indifference at him even as his eyes give him away, and instead finding Younghee watching him with rapturous, hungry attention that sets him on edge.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When Soonyoung gets home, Jihoon is already asleep, dressed in an oversized t-shirt that he knows is his and sweatpants, and he makes a little snuffling noises when Soonyoung slips in beside him. He latches onto Soonyoung immediately, though, his arms closing around Soonyoung and his head sliding in between Soonyoung’s neck and shoulder as if he’s being magnetically pulled, so Soonyoung decides that things can wait. They’re still fine. This is nothing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>This is not nothing. This is undeniably something.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It starts out with small things. Soonyoung kisses Jihoon goodbye in the morning, and Jihoon sighs and pulls away a second too early. Jihoon does not wait up for him when gets home very late and finds him on their bed, back facing away from him. And on the occasions that Soonyoung gets home early, Jihoon already ate dinner without him and retreated into his home studio to work on some songs. Soonyoung asks Jihoon to help him with some company work which he usually helps with with no quelm but Jihoon makes excuses before he disappears out the door and doesn’t get back home until past ten in the evening.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jihoon sometimes acts cold. Jihoon sometimes pretends that he doesn’t care about Soonyoung. But Soonyoung </span>
  <em>
    <span>knows</span>
  </em>
  <span> Jihoon, and Jihoon is never like </span>
  <em>
    <span>this</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He’ll push Soonyoung away in public, but he’ll kiss Soonyoung everywhere when they’re alone. He’ll glare at Soonyoung when Soonyoung uses pet names on him, but it’s mostly in a transparent bid to distract from the way he flushes. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The way Jihoon is acting right now is completely unprecedented.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Soonyoung can’t deny that he’s worried. Worried, concerned, and possibly a little terrified, because he has </span>
  <em>
    <span>no idea what he did wrong</span>
  </em>
  <span>, so how can he fix it?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Guiltily, though, he’s glad for the extra alone time, because it’s given him the opportunity to plan the proposal. He’s thinking he’ll have another crazy plan and maybe convince Seokmin to let him host it on the boat where they first met (not the one that has Jihoon’s name printed on it, that’s another one). It’ll be romantic and sentimental and Jihoon will tell their future children about how much of a sap their father is and Soonyoung will laugh and call him snuggle bunny and kiss him on the cheek. It’ll be perfect, basically.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The planning is going spectacularly -- Soonyoung’s got the first draft of his plan. He is planning on doing a heist. It’s the perfect plan since when they first met, there was a heist that happened on the boat and the notice was sent by a famous thief. He wants to reenact the heist and when he catches Jihoon, that’s when he’ll propose. He was part way on explaining to Seokmin why he needed their family boat when he gets a call from Seoul National Hospital, asking if he’s Kwon Soonyoung and is he aware that he’s Lee Jihoon’s emergency contact? Yes, could he come in as soon as possible? Why? Because Jihoon has just been involved on a traffic accident,</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Soonyoung experiences a panic so viscerally sharp he wonders, for half a second, if he’s the one that has been involved in the accident.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He’s not entirely sure how he gets to the hospital; he thinks he just drove like a madman, because he had his car keys in his hand as he stumbles into Seoul National Hospital and nearly crashes into the receptionist’s desk. The blonde receptionist behind the desk manages to coax Jihoon’s name out of him after a few minutes of awkward stuttering and her telling him to breathe, clinically calm and eyebrows raised.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Lee Jihoon is in room 615,” she tells him and Soonyoung’s off, gone, jabbing at the call button for the elevator, bouncing restlessly up and down, ignoring the way two nurses swerve around him and an elderly patiently haltingly turns his wheelchair around and flees in the other direction. He’s preoccupied with imagining every situation in which Jihoon could have been injured -- God, what if he injured his wrists? Got his head banged up? Lost too much blood?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The elevator is too slow. Soonyoung thinks of seven different ways he could get to room 615.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>By the time, the elevator deposits Soonyoung on the sixth floor with an unimpressed chime and doors that slide open with rheumatic slowness, Soonyoung is kind of a mess. He skids down the hall, bangs shoulder-first into the door of room 614, apologizes to the startled doctor who had been about to go in, and throws the door to room 615 open, holding his breath all the while.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jihoon is sitting on a bed, making periodic sulky noises as Seungcheol and a white-clad nurse stand around him. The nurse is wrapping Jihoon’s leg and studiously ignoring the way Seungcheol is shouting fiercely at Jihoon. She does look up when Soonyoung trips over himself in his haste to reach Jihoon.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Jihoonie,” Soonyoung gasps when he manages to get his hands on Jihoon, who’s warm and present and still breathing, which is the most important thing. Jihoon winces when Soonyoung wanders a little too close to another area that he was injured in, but he does reach up and briefly fit a hand around the curve of Soonyoung’s neck before he drops it and looks away. Soonyoung felt an ice-water shock of confused hurt, but he pushed it down in favor of examining Jihoon from head to toe.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Seungcheol, who’d gone quiet when Soonyoung burst in, heaves a sigh of annoyance. He looks rumpled and unhappy, still a little red in the face. “I’m not done with you, Lee Jihoon.” The nurse ties off the bandage and flees, probably wisely.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s not a big deal,” Jihoon mutters. There’s apparently something very interesting about his shoes, because he’s staring at his shoelaces so intently Soonyoung half-expects them to combust from the force of his gaze. “I was just a little… distracted.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh really?” Seungcheol laughs, disbelieving, eyebrows raised to nearly his hairline. “You were so distracted that you basically walked into the highway? With the lights still green?” He presses his lips together, glancing at Soonyoung. “Lee Jihoon, I think it’s pretty obvious that you were more than a </span>
  <em>
    <span>little</span>
  </em>
  <span> distracted. You have to know that you have to be mentally present at all times especially while --”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay, fine, whatever,” Jihoon snaps before he pulls away from Soonyoung, glaring at Seungcheol. He’s still not looking at Soonyoung. “I get it. I was distracted. I got into an accident. I’m </span>
  <em>
    <span>fine.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What if that car had been over the speed limit, Jihoon?” Seungcheol retorts, looking honestly infuriated. “What if I was not there to help you? We could be in the ICU right now, the doctor doing an emergency surgery on you and Soonyoung would probably terrorize </span>
  <em>
    <span>me</span>
  </em>
  <span> for days for letting that happen to you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So this is suddenly about </span>
  <em>
    <span>you </span>
  </em>
  <span>now?” Jihoon deflects. His shoulders curl inwards, and he abruptly looks small and vulnerable, the stark white bandage bright against the ragged, darkly bloodstained sleeve of his shirt, where he had some scratches.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No,” Seuncheol half-shouts before he checks that the hallway is mostly empty. “No,” he reiterates, his voice lowering, “this is about that fact that you need to work out </span>
  <em>
    <span>whatever’s </span>
  </em>
  <span>bothering you before you get yourself </span>
  <em>
    <span>killed.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” With a last, significant look between Soonyoung and Jihoon, he storms out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There’s an awkward silence.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Jihoonie,” Soonyoung says -- and even he can hear the shudder in his voice -- “is it true what Seungcheol-hyung said? That you got hurt because you were… distracted?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jihoon swallows visibly. “Yeah,” he croaks, clearing his throat. “I was -- I was pretty distracted.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Does this have something to do with how you’ve been freezing me out lately?” Soonyoung asks, trying to sound gentle and knowing that he misses by miles, and Jihoon’s head jerks upwards. Their eyes meet for three quarters of a second before Jihoon’s back to examining the floor tiles with ridiculous intensity.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No,” he lies, badly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Soonyoung groans. “Darling--”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>call</span>
  </em>
  <span> me that,” Jihoon says sharply. And it’s not the way he usually says it: not like a protest that doubles as permission, but like actual anger. Soonyoung stares, flummoxed, before he rubs a hand over his face.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I think we need to talk about this,” he announces. He’s tired, drained of the adrenaline that got him here, and he’s confused, and he just wants to hold Jihoon for the next seventeen hours, but Kihoon has a stubborn slant on his mouth that means he’s likely to shiv Soonoyung if the other tries to touch him again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Probably,” agrees Jihoon. He rubs the back of his neck, clenches his jaw, and finally looks at Soonyoung before he says, quiet, “Do you want to break up?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It feels as if someone’s emptied a bucket, no, a whole gallon of ice water over Soonyoung’s head. A cold sweat breaks across his skin, and he’s rooted to the floor. Soonyoung’s not sure what his face is doing, but he can barely get his too-big tongue to form a blank, “What?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jihoon looks pained. He presses his mouth into a line before he begins, slowly, “I know you… might not want to be with me anymore.” When Soonyoung just looks at him uncomprehendingly, he sighs. “I know you’d never cheat on me” -- and when did the topic of the conversation turn to </span>
  <em>
    <span>cheating</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Soonyoung wonders blankly, as if from a distance -- “but I would understand if you’ve, I don’t know, gotten tired of me. We’ve been together a long time.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Soonyoung legitimately doesn’t understand what’s happening. “Wait, what? Are </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> tired of </span>
  <em>
    <span>me</span>
  </em>
  <span>?” he asks, bewildered, and Jihoon gives him a comfortingly judgy look.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course not,” he says, as if the thought of getting tired of Soonyoung is truly ridiculous. “You’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And you’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Soonyoung counters, feeling a strange combination of desperate and desperately confused, and Jihoon winces, his mouth twitching at one corner. Soonyoung stares for a long minute before he rubs a hand through his hair, fingers getting caught in a tangle at the crown of his head.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t think we’re on the same page here, Jihoonie.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You can’t think I’m that stupid,” Jihoon says, disbelieving as he glances at Soonyoung. When Soonyoung just blinks, he groans, putting his face in his hands. There are shadows beneath his eyes that Soonyoung knows weren’t there two weeks ago. “Come on, Soonyoung. You’ve been going out and hanging up when I call you and staying up late on your phone. And it seems like every time I see you, that -- </span>
  <em>
    <span>girl</span>
  </em>
  <span> is hanging around you. You </span>
  <em>
    <span>know</span>
  </em>
  <span> what it looks like.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What? What does it look like?” Soonyoung feels his scowl growing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jihoon makes a hurt sound, as if someone’s stuck a shard of glass into his side. “It --” He stops, swallows, and then meets Soonyoung’s eyes. “It looks like you’re… seeing someone else.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It takes a few seconds for his meaning to sink in, and when it does, Soonyoung is fairly certain his heart stops for a second. “You -- you --”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Jihoon mumbles, subdued. His eyes look suspiciously shiny. “I know. And -- and I think it would be best if we…” He trails off, his mouth moving around a few silent syllables -- </span>
  <em>
    <span>break up</span>
  </em>
  <span> -- but he doesn’t finish. Soonyoung is glad, because he’s not entirely sure he’d survive Jihoon saying the words </span>
  <em>
    <span>break up</span>
  </em>
  <span> in relation to them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I -- oh my God, Jihoonie, </span>
  <em>
    <span>no,</span>
  </em>
  <span> I don’t want to break up with you,” Soonyoung says, strangled, the second he’s recovered. Jihoon gives him a dead-eyed look, and Soonyoung flails, knocking over a probably important monitor. “I swear to God, Jihoonie, I’m not -- I’m not </span>
  <em>
    <span>cheating</span>
  </em>
  <span> on you!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jihoon lifts an eyebrow like </span>
  <em>
    <span>then what?</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I was trying to -- look, okay --” Soonyoung casts around for the ring, but then he realizes that he forgot it , in the deepest depth of their shared cabinet, in his haste to get to the hospital. He clenches his jaw before he reaches out to take Jihoon’s face in his hands. Jihoon’s skin is smooth and soft beneath his fingertips, at least until Jihoon pulls away from the touch. “You have to believe me. I haven’t met anyone. I was going to -- it wasn’t -- I didn’t --”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>One corner of Jihoon’s mouth twitches downwards in a way that strongly implies Soonyoung is not doing a very good job of convincing him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Jihoonie, you --” With a groan, Soonyoung drops onto one kneww, ignoring the way Jihoon’s eyebrows jump up his forehead. His heart is in his throat, and he’s acutely aware of the blood rushing past his ears, but all he can focus on is the look on Jihoon’s face, the wideness of Jihoon’s eyes. “Lee Jihoon, will you marry me?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jihoon stares at him, blank-faced. His mouth is partly open. He looks a bit as if someone forgot to change his batteries. “Um…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Please,” Soonyoung says, hoping he doesn’t sound as pathetic as he feels. He runs his tongue across his lips. “Jihoon.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay, I’m confused,” Jihoon announces. He’s blinking rapidly, rubbing a hand over his mouth. “You -- I thought -- weren’t you…?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Soonyoung’s mouth feels sticky when he swallows. “I wasn’t cheating on you,” he mumbles. “I was trying to plan the proposal. I -- there was going to be this heist setup thing, and I was going to propose to you on the boat where we first met. I went to a jewelry store with Seungcheol-hyung and got you a ring and everything, but I forgot it because I was panicking when I received the call that you’re in the hospital, and I know it’s not --” His babbling is cut short when Jihoon tugs on the lapel of his jacket pulling him to his feet, and kisses him gently on the mouth.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m sorry,” he says when he pulls back, and Soonyoung realizes that he’s smiling, a stupid, fond smile that makes Soonyoung go warm all over. “I should’ve believed in you. Believed </span>
  <em>
    <span>in </span>
  </em>
  <span>you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Soonyoung grins, his heart pounding. “Can’t believe you thought I was cheating, babe.” He clears his throat. Jihoon’s eyes are gentle and soft, warm. Soonyoung wants to build a home here and never leave this moment. “But you never answered my question.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jihoon exhales a shaky laugh. His smile is wide and dopey and Soonyoung wants to kiss it off him. “Yeah.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Soonyoung feels his heart soar. “Yeah?” he asks, hopeful, and Jihoon nods, and it’s like the whole world is different, brighter, better, and Soonyoung can’t stop </span>
  <em>
    <span>smiling</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He has the feeling that he’s never going to be this happy ever again. He can’t wait to prove himself wrong.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They sat there, holding each other, smiling idiotically at each other and swaying from side to side, until Seungcheol opened the door and made a choking noise.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I saw nothing,” he announces before he backpedals quickly out of the room.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We still have our clothes on!” Jihoon yells after him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Not for long!” Seungcheol shouts darkly, followed by the sound of a crash and frantic apologies that indicates he probably just ran into an elderly. Jihoon sighs, but his mouth is curved upwards when Soonyoung leans in to kiss him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We could follow his advice,” Soonyoung suggests when they pull apart. He’s got one hand around the back of Jihoon’s head, tangled in Jihoon’s hair, and he feels it when Jihoon glances at the pillow behind them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How sturdy do you think hospital beds are?” he asks, perfectly innocent, and Soonyoung smothers his uncontrollable smile on the side of Jihoon’s neck. He’s so glad he fell in love with Jihoon.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He’s so not glad he fell in love with Jihoon.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He proposed in a hospital room,” Jihoon tells Jeonghan, gleeful, as he helps him adjust his lapels and hands him a compact mirror so he can obsessively check his makeup for the eight time in the past five minutes. “He forgot the ring. He didn’t even give me flowers.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jeonghan looks viciously delighted as he powders his nose. Soonyoung sighs, knowing that he’s never going to live this down. They’re all growing old together, and maybe even if they’re in their 90’s, Jeonghan’s going to bring up how he completely failed to propose to Jihoon in between bingo calls and complaining about rheumatism.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re the worst, darling,” Soonyoung says, reaching out to straighten Jihoon’s tie. Jihoon grins at him, unrepentant, and strides off to harass the caterers into setting up the tables faster -- but not before he sneaks in a kiss that makes Soonyoung stare after him with a smile on his face that makes Jeonghan roll his eyes and hit him with his bouquet.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’ll have plenty of time to make eyes at him later,” he reminds him as he heads towards the chapel doors, and Soonyoung can’t even fault her, because he’s not wrong. He has all the time in the world.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hope you enjoyed reading this :). Any comments and love will do and you can hit me up on Twitter @svtlayag. Thank you very much for reading.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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